Online Banking

What is online banking?

If you're like most people, you've heard a lot about online banking but probably haven't tried it yourself. You still pay your bills by mail and deposit checks at your bank branch, much the way your parents did. You might shop online for a loan, life insurance or a home mortgage, but when it comes time to commit, you feel more comfortable working with your banker or an agent you know and trust.

Online banking isn't out to change your money habits. Instead, it uses today's computer technology to give you the option of bypassing the time-consuming, paper-based aspects of traditional banking in order to manage your finances more quickly and efficiently.

Origin of online banking

The advent of the Internet and the popularity of personal computers presented both an opportunity and a challenge for the banking industry.

For years, financial institutions have used powerful computer networks to automate millions of daily transactions; today, often the only paper record is the customer's receipt at the point of sale. Now that its customers are connected to the Internet via personal computers, banks envision similar economic advantages by adapting those same internal electronic processes to home use.

Banks view online banking as a powerful "value added" tool to attract and retain new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling and teller interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment.

Brick-to-click banks

Today, most large national banks, many regional banks and even smaller banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking, variously known as PC banking, home banking, electronic banking or Internet banking. Those that do are sometimes referred to as "brick-to-click" banks, both to distinguish them from brick-and-mortar banks that have yet to offer online banking, as well as from online or "virtual" banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever.

The challenge for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it. After all, banks have spent generations earning our trust; they aren't about to risk that on a Web site that is frustrating, confusing or less than secure.

Most of the large banks now offer fully secure, fully functional online banking for free or for a small fee. Some smaller banks offer limited access or functionality; for instance, you may be able to view your account balance and history but not initiate transactions online. As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites, fully functional online banking likely will become as commonplace as automated teller machines.

Virtual banks

If you don't mind foregoing the teller window, lobby cookie and kindly bank president, a "virtual" or e-bank, such as Virtual Bank or Giant Bank, may save you very real money. Virtual banks are banks without bricks; from the customer's perspective, they exist entirely on the Internet, where they offer pretty much the same range of services and adhere to the same federal regulations as your corner bank.

Virtual banks pass the money they save on overhead like buildings and tellers along to you in the form of higher yields, lower fees and more generous account thresholds.

The major disadvantage of virtual banks revolves around ATMs. Because they have no ATM machines, virtual banks typically charge the same surcharge that your brick-and-mortar bank would if you used another bank's automated teller. Likewise, many virtual banks won't accept deposits via ATM; you'll have to either deposit the check by mail or transfer money from another account.

Advantages of online banking

Convenience: Unlike your corner bank, online banking sites never close; they're available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they're only a mouse click away.

Ubiquity: If you're out of state or even out of the country when a money problem arises, you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business, 24/7.

Transaction speed: Online bank sites generally execute and confirm transactions at or quicker than ATM processing speeds.

Efficiency: You can access and manage all of your bank accounts, including IRAs, CDs, even securities, from one secure site.

Effectiveness: Many online banking sites now offer sophisticated tools, including account aggregation, stock quotes, rate alerts and portfolio managing programs to help you manage all of your assets more effectively. Most are also compatible with money managing programs such as Quicken and Microsoft Money.

Disadvantages of online banking

Start-up may take time: In order to register for your bank's online program, you will probably have to provide ID and sign a form at a bank branch. If you and your spouse wish to view and manage your assets together online, one of you may have to sign a durable power of attorney before the bank will display all of your holdings together.

Learning curve: Banking sites can be difficult to navigate at first. Plan to invest some time and/or read the tutorials in order to become comfortable in your virtual lobby.

Bank site changes: Even the largest banks periodically upgrade their online programs, adding new features in unfamiliar places. In some cases, you may have to re-enter account information.

The trust thing: For many people, the biggest hurdle to online banking is learning to trust it. Did my transaction go through? Did I push the transfer button once or twice? Best bet: always print the transaction receipt and keep it with your bank records until it shows up on your personal site and/or your bank statement.

Buisness

Your business is vulnerable to claims from both employees and customers, so in addition to making your business premises as safe as possible, the following types of insurance cover offer protection from compensation claims and for damage to your own property.Employers Liability Insurance Required by law if you have employees, this type of insurance protects you from claims from staff who have been injured or made ill at work through the fault of your business.Publicly Liability Insurance.The nature of your business means that customers will be visiting your premises to shop, and if they happen to have an accident and injure themselves whilst there, you might end up facing a claim if it was your fault.A customer might, for example, trip on a carelessly discarded box or item that has fallen from an overstocked shelf. If they hurt their back, or put their hand through a glass display resulting in a serious injury, they are likely to try to claim compensation.Public Liability Insurance covers such claims and usually any legal expenses involved.

Property Insurance

Property insurance provides protection against risks to property, such as fire, theft or weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance or boiler insurance. Property is insured in two main ways open perils, or all risk perils, and named perils. Open perils cover all the causes of loss not specifically excluded or eliminated in the policy. Named perils require the actual cause of loss to be listed in the policy for insurance to be provided. The more common named perils include such damage causing events as fire, lightning, explosion and theft. Some of the more common exclusions include earthquake, flood, nuclear incidents, and war.

Life Insurance

There are various types of life insurance but they all have some common attributes. You pay an insurance company what are called premiums. At your death, the life insurance company pays an amount to the people you named in your policy, called beneficiaries. Also it’s interesting that if you named a beneficiary(ies) they’d receive the insurance amount free of income tax.Some types of life insurance have cash benefits available while you’re living. In these types, a portion of your premium goes into a cash reserve and builds on a tax deferred basis. You can access this money, called cash value. Some people use it to help education costs, enhance retirement cash flow or for any reason. Two of the most common types of permanent life insurance are called whole life insurance and universal life insurance.The different kinds of life insurance are described on the Lifeinsure.com site. To learn more about each type you can go to the navigation panel you click the type of life insurance to learn about. You can also visit the Education. Combined with investments, retirement and estate planning, a life insurance policy is a cornerstone of a sound financial plan. By looking into this area, you are making an intelligent and caring financial decision for your family. It is important that you have life insurance and have enough to protect those you care about. Get the insurance you should have.

Insurance

Insurance Norwich Union, is now part of CGNU plc, which was formed by the merger of CGU and Norwich Union in May 2000. CGNU is now the sixth largest insurer in the world. Its UK life, pensions and general insurance businesses still operate, under the Norwich Union brand, from offices in Norwich. It has an annual graduate recruitment programme. Also a number of graduates are recruited each year at clerical or similar grades, from which some may choose to progress into 'graduate track' careers. This 'side-door' entry into a graduate track career may also be possible in other financial organisations, including for example other insurance companies, the banks and indeed many other mainstream graduate recruiters.

INSURANCE & FINANCIAL

Proposed N131-103 Registration Requirements We are writing to provide the comments of Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (Industrial Alliance) on the Notice and Request for Comment dated February 27,2008 ("the Notice"), on Proposed National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Proposed Companion Policy 31-153CP and Proposed Amendments to Multilateral Instrument 33-109 Registration Information published for public comment by the Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") (respectively, the "Proposed Instrument" and the Proposed Companion Policy" and collectively, the "Proposal"). Industrial Alliance has a national footprint in the distribution of financial services in Canada. Through our three broker-dealers: IA Securities Inc., a nationally registered securities dealer and IDA member, as well as FundEX Investments Inc. and Investia Financial Services Inc., both of which are nationally registered mutual fund dealers and members of the MFDA, we currently represent over 2000 licensed advisors. We will limit our comments to those that we feel will specifically affect the way in which our advisors and our firm will be able to service our more than 300,000 clients. At a high level, Industrial Alliance is in complete support of regulatory proposals that provide consistent treatment of the consumer experience, greater clarity and consistency of rules, and efficiencies in process.

Industrial Alliance fully endorses the CSA's stated aim of the Proposal - "to create a flexible and administratively efficient [registration] regime with reduced regulatory burden". We also commend the CSA for its efforts in achieving the level of uniformity and harmonisation of the current myriad of registration-related rules. Given the historical differing positions taken by the various CSA members on registrant regulation, the Proposals are indeed a welcome achievement on the part of the CSA. We support the objective of the Proposed Instrument to harmonise, streamline and modernise the registration regime for dealers and dvisors across the CSA jurisdictions. In addition, we would note the importance of achieving greater harmony in the rules, and application of rules, of the Self Regulatory Organizations (SROs), whose role will be critical to the shaping of a consistent investor experience.

There are elements of the Proposal, however, that are of concern to us. The three broad areas of concern that we touch on from this perspective include: dealer-advisor registration; compliance and suitability; and the Client Relationship Model. On the proposals relating to dealer registration, we support the retention of the Mutual Fund Dealer category. We further support the proposals to ensure adequate transition periods and the permission of grandfathering of proficiency requirements where appropriate.

The Proposed Instrument appears to confine the business of a Mutual Fund Dealer, a position that does not properly reflect the realities of the distribution business, which has broadened significantly in scope in recent years. We are concerned by the language in the Proposal restricting mutual fund dealers and their advisors "solely" to the distribution of mutual funds. Professional financial advisors are engaged in the analysis of the financial situations of their clients, and in recommending solutions for their investment needs from a wide array of products including GICs, Principal-Protected Notes, Mutual Funds, and Segregated Funds. The Proposal's language should be modified to reflect these realities. The Proposal introduces a new category of registration: the Exempt Market Dealer. We require more discussion about the regulatory oversight structure that would be faced by mutual fund dealers that also distribute exempt market products. It is our view that the registration regime should recognise the higher level of oversight that membership in an SRO brings, and accordingly MFDA Members should be permitted to sell exempt market products without the additional requirement to register as Exempt Market Dealers.

Health Insurance

AUD Mandatory Health Insurance Effective Fall 2006, Private Health Insurance covering care in the UAE is mandatory to all AUD students. In order to meet this requirement by enrolling in the AUD-sponsored health insurance plan, students are charged a non-refundable AED 1,000 fee on their Fall semester bill covering the period September 1 through August 31. Students with valid current health insurance covering all of UAE may waive this fee Policies and ProceduresEffective September 20th 2008, students must collect their Insurance Cards from the AUD Health Center.

From September 5th until September 20th 2008, medical visits and procedures will be reimbursed through claim forms students can download from AUD website.

Students permanently dismissed or graduating from AUD, before Spring semester, have the choice to apply for a refund after returning the card to the Health Center.

Students joining within the academic year will be charged on pro-rata basis. The amount will be determined by the Insurance Company.Fee for Blood Test for visa is not covered by the insurance. Students sponsored by AUD have to follow the pre-existing policy.

Insurance Industrial Revolution

Insuring the Industrial Revolution fits this bill for British fire insurance, stretching from its roots in the early eighteenth century up to 1850, when it was on the verge of market saturation at home and (if only briefly) world domination abroad. Before this book, the history of British fire insurance mainly rested on three company histories, each longer and more magisterial than its predecessor: Clive Trebilcock’s history of Phoenix Assurance (appearing in two volumes in 1986 and 1999), Barry Supple’s history of the Royal Exchange (1971), and Peter Dickson’s history of the Sun (1959). Pearson integrates these books’ findings with a substantial amount of new archival evidence from other London companies, like the Hand-in-Hand, County, Guardian, Alliance, and Imperial; and from provincial fire offices in cities like Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol, and Leeds. This wider array of sources allows Pearson to bring to the history of fire insurance the same appreciation for regional diversity that has long marked our understanding of such British industries as textiles and coal, and, more generally, to take what he calls a “market-oriented rather than corporate-oriented approach” .Pearson opens with a quantitative chapter tracking premium rates, sums insured, and proportion of insured British property from 1760 through 1850. The latter category, for instance, rose to just over 34 percent from 1770 through 1790, fell during the Napoleonic Wars to under a third, then rose steadily from 1820 until it reached 56 percent in 1850. Since this growth pattern was out of sync with the pace of industrialization (which grew fastest in many sectors between 1780 and 1821), he accounts for it by referring to “supply side” explanations, including profitability(owing to luck or skill in assessing risk), better marketing, and more efficient management, and to unquantifiable “demand side” explanations, such as increased levels of risk aversion. His numbers, in other words, lead him to focus mainly on qualitative factors, which he spends the rest of the book untangling: first in a series of chronological chapters, and then in a set of thematic chapters covering company formation, marketing, underwriting, and investment.

More About Insurance

Bank Insurance Compliance: Fundamentals (BIC) is a self-study course that describes the state and federal regulatory requirements that are imposed on insurance sales by banks and bank-affiliated insurance agencies and broker-dealers.

Who Should Enroll?

The BIC course was developed in cooperation with the American Bankers Insurance Association, an affiliate of the American Bankers Association. It is designed for employees working in bank insurance at financial institutions as well as bank-affiliated agencies and broker-dealers. Insurance company employees who work with the insurance sales areas in banks, their affiliates, and broker-dealer firms, will also benefit from this course.

What Can You Expect to Learn?

When you complete this course, you’ll be able to:

Explain how the state and federal governments divide responsibility for regulating bank insurance operations

Identify the requirements that federal banking laws impose on bank insurance operations

Identify and describe the regulatory requirements that state insurance laws and federal securities laws impose on the marketing and sale of insurance products

Describe how state and federal regulators oversee the operations of insurers and banks that affiliate to market insurance to bank customers

How Can You Enroll?

Students and employees of LOMA member companies may register for the course through their Educational Representative. Members of the ABA, ABIA, independent students, and those less familiar with LOMA's enrollment and exam administration process and requirements may download the BIC Paper Exam Enrollment Form and Instructions to register for the paper exam. Computerized exams are also available to participating member companies via I*STAR, and also at Prometric Testing Centers throughout the United States and Canada.

Can I Get CE Credit or Certification for This Course?

Most states offer CE credit upon successfully passing the BIC examination. To view a chart of states that accept credit for completion of the BIC coursework, click here. Students who wish to earn CE credit or request a Certificate of Course Completion must submit their request in writing.

Students participating at LOMA member companies should apply for CE credit using the BIC CE Credit Request Form.

ABIA, ABA, and Independent students should use the BIC Paper Exam Enrollment Form and Instructions when applying for CE credit.

Additional Benefits of the BIC Course

The textbook and the LOMA-administered examination will each count toward the American Bankers Association Institute of Certified Bankers’ (ICB’s) CRCM (Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager) designation, as follows:

Delivery Method

Credit Hours

LOMA Administered Exam

22.50

Text only

11.25

ICB members must complete and fax or mail a Continuing Education Submission Form to the ICB in order to receive this credit. You can find the form by clicking on "Continuing Education" at www.aba.com\icbcertifications.

Online Tutorial

An Internet-based tutorial is available for Bank Insurance Compliance: Fundamentals. For additional information about the online tutorial, contact the ABA:

American Bankers Association

Phone:1-800-BANKERS

Fax: 202-663-7543

P.O. Box 79064

Baltimore, MD 21279-0064

The cost of the tutorial is $299.95 for non-members or $199.95 for members of the ABA, ABIA, or LOMA.

To Purchase the Text

Cost for the Bankinsurance Compliance: Fundamentals text is $39.95 for non-members and $29.95 for members of the ABA, ABIA, or LOMA. To purchase copies, contact:

PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services, Inc.

Ph: 800-887-3723 or 770-442-8631

Fax: 770-442-9742

Mail: P.O. Box 930108

Atlanta, GA 31193-0108

E-mail: Lnh@pbd.com

Internet: www.pbd.com

Enrollment Information

If you need information about how to enroll for LOMA exams, click here to access LOMA’s Education and Training Catalog and review the “Exams” section that begins on page 59.

For more information about any aspect of the Bankinsurance Compliance: Fundamentals program, e-mail education@loma.org.

Bank Insurance

Bank Insurance, Business Insurance

Life, Health & Personal Insurance

Established in 1969, the Anthony R. Davis Insurance Agency is widely regarded as The Insurance Specialist to Banks. We are also the Leader in assisting Banks to establish "Bank Owned Insurance Agencies."

We offer a full compliment of insurance products and services for Businesses as well as Individuals through some of the finest insurance companies in America. Through our state of the art computer system and our dedicated team of service professionals we are able to provide you with the fast and friendly service you deserve.

Call today and experience a level of service you only dreamed about. Our friendly and courteous service team is always available to help you!

We specialize in the following types of Insurance:

Personal Insurance

Homeowners

Auto (New Jersey only)

Fire

Umbrella Liability

Boat

Valuable Articles

Business Insurance

Business Owner's Policy

Commercial Package

Bonds

Employment Practices Liability

Workers Compensation

Commercial Auto

Life & Health

Term Life

Permanent Life (Whole Life & Universal Life)

Second to Die Life

Single Premium Whole Life

Annuities

Disability

Nursing Home

Health

Insurance and Services For Banks

Mortgage Impairment Insurance (Mortgage Errors & Omissions)

Mortgage Servicing Force Placed Fire and Flood Coverage

Banker's REO Coverage

Flood Determination Services

Banker's Blanket Bond

Banker's D&O Liability Coverage- Including Entity Coverage

Banker's Specialized Property and Liability Coverage

Voluntary Optional Mortgage Coverage- Life, A&H, AD&D

Credit Related Coverages - Fixed and Revolving

Employment Practices Liability

Blanket Fire (First and Second Mortgages)

Environmental Impairment Liability Coverage

Lender Liability

Bank Insurance

Established in 1969, our organization is widely regarded as The Insurance Specialists to Banks. We understand how banks work and we are experts in the types of Property and Casualty insurance coverages banks need to operate. We can even help you with your “Hard to Place” coverages.

Bank Insurance Agencies

The Financial Services Modernization Act allows all banks to offer a full array of financial products to their customers including securities and insurance products.

Since the early 1980's the Anthony R. Davis Agency has been helping financial institutions set up and operate Insurance Agencies where allowed by law. We have the experience, know-how and track record to make your venture into marketing insurance work.

The Anthony R. Davis Agency offers a "Turnkey" Joint Venture solution to entering this lucrative market. We can also provide consulting services to help you optimize your return if you are already in this market.

Establishing a Bank Insurance Agency will generate Bank Insurance Revenue and Bank Fee Income.

Annuity Exchange

Do you own a deferred annuity but feel the current interest rate you are receiving on your annuity is too low?

Do you need assistance with your annuity but do not have an active agent?

If you do, you are not alone.

The Annuity Exchange Program offers you the opportunity to compare your current annuity contract against other annuities which offer substantially better returns.

Did you know there are deferred annuities available by A+ rated carriers that offer guaranteed rates as high as 6.05 % and guarantee that rate for 10 years!

Is your annuity performing this well?

There is no obligation. Call now for a FREE comparison and find out how your annuity can work harder for you.

Call us at 1-800-752-0150 to speak with a licensed insurance agent and compare your current annuity against some of the strongest annuities available today. You may also e-mail us at info@ardavisagency.com

Insurance

From the late nineteenth century onward, cars began to proliferate in industrialized nations. However, it was not until the invention of mass production by Henry Ford in the early twentieth century that a sharp increase in the number of cars on the road began to occur. This increased risk in two ways. First of all the mere increase in the number of automobiles caused a parallel increase in accidents in general. But it also led to an exponential increase in the number of collisions between cars.
Insurance was not a new concept. It had already existed for centuries. Since the automobile represented a new source of risk it was natural that motorists should find the need to protect themselves from devastating financial loss through insurance. Auto insurance became a legal requirement a short time later.
There are different types of auto insurance policies. They include collision, fire, theft, public liability and comprehensive. Many types of risk are not immediately apparent to the motorist, and we learn sometimes with surprise the types of things that can actually happen. For example it is not immediately apparent to the average driver why their car needs to be insured if they don't even drive it. Ask your insurance agent for a few stories of claims that have occurred where parked cars are concerned and you will soon find out why.
Getting the best auto insurance quote is very important and requires experience and understanding of the product one is buying. This is why it is treated in depth in another article. Insurance rates in the field of auto insurance vary widely. In theory, they are based solely upon the risk the you, the driver, present to the insurance company. Factors influencing the risk include your age, sex, driving record, where you live and the car you drive. In reality, two insurance companies may quote sharply different rates for the same driver and the same car.